Stress Reliever
by Leii-Leii
Summary: YAOI. After several years of no contact Rei suddenly appeared in Russia for who knows what reason. The Neo Borg doesn't seem very happy though. REI-centric. ON HIATUS.
1. Step One

_September 20, 2011_

**Warning****: **Coarse language.

Hi! Been a while since I wrote a fic, hope I still got it! So this fic has a basic plot and simple theme, like a kick-start of sorts. If somebody enjoys reading this then I'm thanking you in advance, it's a bonus for me.

I'll be using their original names. If there is any confusion please tell in a review or PM me!

Oh and in case I haven't stressed it enough, this fic will be _BL__ (__Boy __Love__) / __Yaoi__ / __Shounen__-__ai_. Eventually.

**Disclaimer****: **Beyblade not mine!

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><p><strong>Stress Reliever<br>Step ****One**

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><p>"You're sleeping on the couch—for now. I'll think of something in the morning."<p>

"Thanks Kai. You don't know how much this means to me."

"Oh, house rules—no sap."

"I see you're still a _joker_," followed by a soft chuckle.

Kai gestured a quick nod before standing up from where he was seated, indicating the end of their conversation. He wanted to give space for the raven-haired man that was fretting over his things, to give him enough time to settle on his new "bed"...and probably "home". He shook his head from his previous thought; it was not the time to be thinking about that. He quickly picked up his pace as he trudged for the corridor to his bedroom, eager for the bed awaiting him...when a familiar set of flaming red hair blocked his way.

"Explain."

The slate-haired Russian glared, not enjoying the sudden company.

...

When the other person didn't even budge, he closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose to stop an incoming headache. "Not now, Yuriy." His voice was strained. It was late and he wanted to rest.

Yuriy crossed his arms over his chest and glared back. "Why not?"

It was during this point that Kai opened his crimson eyes and glared again. Unfortunately he knew Yuriy damn well; he _knew _that _he _would bug the hell out of him till morning breaks if he didn't give a more detailed answer. And he obviously did not prefer that. Sighing, he closed his eyes again. "Because Rei haven't even explained to _me _yet."

Kai couldn't see him, but he could tell the other raising an irritated eyebrow. "Oh. And you just let him in. Without questions." Yes. Definitely pissed off.

The younger Russian stepped forward to the redhead, his eyes opened and glowering, but without any hint of resentment. "I know Rei, Yuriy. He has his reasons. He'll spill them when he's ready."

A scoff. "Then they better be _fucking _good reasons."

Without anything more to say Yuriy finally stepped out of the way, though he wasn't satisfied with what just transpired. Kai gave him a slight jerk of a nod as acknowledgement before continuing his walk towards his bedroom. Yuriy followed suit, albeit heading to a room of his own, just beside Kai's.

Kai gently closed the door behind him as soon as he entered his bedroom and within a few steps later his two-toned head already smashed against scarlet pillows. He was really, very tired, but despite of it all, one sentence was silently playing through his head:

"_You __have __a __lot __of __explaining __to __do__, __Rei__..."_

And he slowly drifted off to sleep, the digital clock by his bedside glowing a red 1:03 AM.

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><p>x<p>

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><p>By the time the sun was up, the rays effectively lit up the gloomy living room—it looked a lot better than it was during the night. The furniture was simple, minimal decorations, and the room was sporting a modern day look with white and light blue as color theme. However it was very spacious, one could probably roll on the floor without hitting anything. It was so unlike how Rei imagined Kai's house to be as he was actually expecting a huge mansion with a huge garage and fancy furniture. Instead it was a two-story house but with a large land area.<p>

Speaking of the Chinese, he was still sprawled on the white sofa, still asleep and still wearing the clothes he had the night before. Apparently he too was tired enough not to change clothes and was wearing...one couldn't say it wasn't _normal _clothes, but it did have the Chinese theme on it, but it didn't feel like _normal _everyday clothes...it was more of a uniform of sorts, simple yet spiffy.

A finger poked him on the chest. "Hey, are you planning on sleeping in the whole day?"

He had always been a light sleeper and sometimes he hated himself for it. He did want to wake up, but sleeping in the whole day wasn't such a bad idea either...he hadn't have enough sleep as of late, and a good, long slumber was _really_ tempting.

If not for the incessant poking from hell.

Unable to tolerate it any longer, Rei opened his eyes, only to close them back again because of the sudden exposure to light. Grumbling a little this time he _slowly _opened his eyes to adjust to the light, taking in the surroundings...when he was suddenly met with maroon eyes and indigo hair and that strangely familiar nose—

"ACK!" Rei sat up out of surprise, a weird realization hitting him; he wasn't expecting anybody else at Kai's house except Kai himself! And that person was definitely NOT Kai! It was—

"Oh. You're alive." That voice...!

Rei finally had the sense to look around and confirm his thoughts. There was no doubt about it now; the one who poked him to death was none other than _Ivan_, and right now the couch was surrounded by, you guessed it—

_Neo __Borg__._

"Uhh..." the Chinese was involuntarily fidgeting on his seat. How the hell was he supposed to react to _this_?

A tall man with silvery hair smirked at his pathetic state. "Surprised?"

Rei couldn't help but twitch at the statement. _Boris__. _Even after all these years he still gave him the creeps. "Where's Kai...?" he meekly asked, unable to think of anything else to say. Kai could be the only one who can save him from this demise.

A guy with scarlet red hair circled from behind the couch and sat on the coffee table. _Yuriy_, as Rei perfectly remembered, glared ice-blue daggers at him. "In the bathroom." He let out a grunt. "I suppose you're going to tell us now what the fuck are you doing here?" His voice was demanding and loud, as something to be expected of him. But the black-haired man was frozen in place. What should he say...

"Knock it off, Yuriy." Savior!

The slate-haired savior appeared from the hallway, wearing a simple shirt and sweatpants, his hair still dripping from the water as some of it clung to the sides of his face. Rei inwardly cheered. Kai has never failed him.

The recent savior quickly made his way to a comfy chair and picked up the newspaper placed beside Yuriy, who looked nothing short from pissed. "Well?" he grumbled, eyes fixed on the newspaper-holding person, "Aren't you going to ask HIM," he pointed an accusing finger at Rei who winced a bit, "his _wonderful _reason?"

Crimson eyes only gave him an aggravated stare. "Like I said, he will say it when he will." Pausing a bit to look at them, he added, "And stop looming over him like vultures stalking their prey."

Boris let out a sinister laugh. "Nice metaphor."

They started to move away from him, much to Rei's slight relief.

...And it was only then the whole seriousness of the situation sunk in Rei's confused and distracted head; need he remind himself that _the _Neo Borg was here? All five of them—Kai, Yuriy, Ivan, Sergey, Boris; with the exception of Kai he's not exactly buddies with the lot of them. Though it was not weird to find them hang around Kai's house, after all, they _are _friends, no matter how much they deny it.

But it WAS weird to see them hanging around Kai's house after several years of not even thinking about them.

Rei began observing them as they moved about the fairly elegant house. Sergey, still the giant, burly blonde that he was, if not becoming more built and muscular, immediately headed for the room beside the living room; Rei assumed it to be the kitchen or dining room, since he did catch a glimpse of a dining table in there. Yuriy, the lanky redhead, still with the ice cold gaze that Rei had the unfortunate luck to remember, sat on the other comfy chair opposite Kai and turned on the TV with the remote. Ivan apparently had a laptop in his other hand and slumped down on a reclining chair, focusing on the now-opened laptop. Rei noticed that he had grown a lot taller over the past years although he was still the shortest of the bunch. Boris exited from the door to the backyard, which one could perfectly see because the wall separating the house and the backyard was made out of glass. And Kai flipped open his newspaper, effectively hiding his face from the Chinese's view.

...And another realization hit Rei hard. HARD.

These people weren't merely hanging out at Kai's house! He might be mistaken, but...they're so accustomed to this place. It was as if they actually lived here.

He wanted to find out. "Um, Kai—"

Yuriy's and Ivan's eyes immediately dart up to him, embarrassing him a bit. He couldn't just ask Kai when he's within earshot of the people involved, right? That was definitely a stupid move from him!

He fidgeted with his hands uncontrollably and looked down. Why wouldn't they stop staring goddamit?

Then he saw himself still wearing the...clothes...from last night. "...Where's the bathroom?"

Kai peeked from behind the newspaper. "Left or right hallway, last door."

Rei muttered a "Thanks!" before taking in the surroundings, searching for these hallways; on the far wall of the living room, the same wall with the glass panes overlooking the backyard, were the hallways Kai mentioned, the left obviously leading to the left wing of the house and vice versa. Rei easily picked the left hallway as both Yuriy and Ivan's position were more of to the right side, and he didn't want to pass by them. Taking his rather heavy bag with him he walked out of sight.

Yuriy took this opportunity swiftly. Clicking _mute_ on the TV remote, he turned to the newspaper-reading man. "Seriously Kai." Two words meant nothing but Kai already knew what _he_ meant anyway.

He put down the papers gently on his lap. "Judging from the amount of things he brought, he may be intending to stay here for a while."

"What?" Ivan exclaimed, as if on protest. "How can we focus on work if that..." he trailed off as he thought of the right word...but eventually failed, "THAT is around?"

"Unlike Takao, Max or Hiromi, he isn't a nuisance."

Yuriy scoffed at this. "Can't you just book him a hotel or something?"

But Kai only shook his head. "If he wanted a hotel he would've gone to it by now."

"Maybe he can't afford it..." Ivan grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe. But I seriously doubt it. Stop whining like teenage girls."

"Fuck you," the duo glared in unison, but because this is Kai, he was unaffected and just merely smirked at them.

As if on cue Boris reemerged from the backyard and was about to go somewhere when Kai called out his name, nodding to the empty couch. He complied, but not feeling a bit relaxed; he knew something's up when the red-eyed Russian told you to sit on the couch.

"Boris," Kai mentioned his name again to confirm that he had his utmost attention, "I specifically remember your room having _two _beds—"

This caused a hysteric fit of laughter from the shortest guy, with the redhead following soon after with his milder version of laughs that he had been trying to suppress.

"Shut the fuck up!" Boris glared at the pair but it only resulted to even wilder laughter.

By now Ivan was clutching his stomach, finding it very hard to breathe, "Oh...oh...I know where this is going!"

Yuriy had a hand covering his mouth. "On second thought this might be a good idea Kai...!"

Boris could only glare his hardest.

Kai gave his equally chill-emanating glare, "As I was saying, your room is made for two people—"

"No." More laughing. "Can't you two shut the hell up?"

"No objections." The owner of the house's tone was final and clipped. "Rei will be staying in your room." After what seemed like years the two had finally calmed down, reverting to their original facades. "I suggest cleaning it up now and hide the stuff you don't want him to see."

...And the two burst in laughter again.

The pale-haired man was seeing red. If only murder was allowed in Kai's house, he would've committed it a long time ago to those two _zhopa_! Being in the worst possible mood he stormed out of the living room and onto the stairs, heading for his room on the second floor.

Kai could only shake his head; Boris wasn't actually the cheerful type even from when he was younger, and even as the years passed that one didn't change. He picked up the newspaper again, flipping to the page where he left off. "He's gone, now be quiet."

"This is gold...!" Ivan was wiping a tear that had escaped from his eyes.

"Surely you're scheming something, great Kai-ness?" Yuriy shot a questioning look at Kai, though one could tell that he was still trying to hold back his laugh.

The aforementioned man only raised the newspaper to his face, but before it was fully obscured a visible smirk graced on his lips. "No."

Yuriy of course, caught it. "Then what's the smug grin on your face?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Without the object of their amusement Ivan and Yuriy finally settled down and went back to what they were doing. The room was fairly quiet then, if you consider the scripted shouting from the television drama quiet, and the occasional typing from Ivan's laptop and the sound of flipping papers from Kai's newspaper. Once in a while they would hear the sounds of utensils coming from the kitchen and some ruckus coming from the second floor.

They almost forgot a _foreigner _was there with them, in the bathroom taking a shower. Well, _almost_, till he showed up without his previous clothes and was now wearing a simple shirt and pants. His long, raven-black hair was loose, swaying in the air as he walked towards the main area of the living room.

The shortest noticed this first. "Tch," he stared at the unbelievably long hair, "Has anybody told you you look girly with your hair like that?"

Rei who was just recovering from the shock that they, the Neo Borg, really did live here, was taken aback. He wasn't expecting that they'd talk to him at all. "Um...a lot of people, actually..." he muttered, stroking his hair with his fingers.

"And you're okay with that?" Ivan looked like he was revolted...but then that changed when he gave the Chinese an evil...look. "Why don't we cut it while you're still here?"

"No!" If cutting his hair was the only way to be friendly with them, then they could just very well kill him instead!

This absolute refusal amused Ivan, to say the least.

He snickered. "Maybe when you're asleep..." he mumbled loud enough for Rei to hear as he switched back to his laptop.

Rei froze on his spot. He _knew _the Russian was just kidding...right? He was just kidding. Of course he was! But he couldn't shake this nagging feeling that he might actually do it...after all, they're the Neo Borg. Who knows what's running through their heads? But...Rei loves his hair! He's starting to have second thoughts about staying at this place...

"Rei." A cool, baritone voice broke him from his stupor; it was none other than Kai's. "Your room would be the first room you see on the second floor."

"Oh...okay, thanks," he managed to blurt out as he literally dropped himself on the couch, emitting a sigh. Why was he being so out of it?

Speaking of being out of it, Sergey appeared from the kitchen wearing an apron! Rei almost laughed out loud when he realized that the rest of the people occupying the room was not reacting to the fact that Sergey was wearing an apron. That must mean it's _normal_? "Breakfast," the tall blond stated, before going back in to where he came from.

"Finally!" Yuriy quickly turned off the television and marched to the dining room/kitchen.

"Ivan, call Boris," Kai ordered which the other complied immediately, setting down his laptop on the chair and climbing the stairs. He turned his eyes back at Rei who was currently watching him. "Rei, come." He gestured for the kitchen, and was about to go there when he heard a quiet plead,

"...W-wait, Kai."

He stood still, waiting for the Chinese to continue, crimson eyes never leaving him.

"I didn't know the Neo Borg are staying with you...maybe I should go somewhere else."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "I already welcomed you, didn't I? Now, eat breakfast." He ordered, his voice resonating with a practiced, unemotional tone.

Rei caught himself chuckling again. There were just some things in this world that doesn't change. "Thank you," he smiled.

At least, not yet.

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><p>x<p>

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><p>Thanks for reading, till next chapter.<p>

_Lei__-__Lei_


	2. Step Two

_October 09, 2011_

**Warning: **Coarse language.

Thank you for the lovely reviews, favorites and alerts! I really appreciate it!

My chapters are usually 3k words and up, and they're slow-paced. So expect a long, long story.

These are their ages: Rei - 22; Kai - 23; Yuriy - 23; Ivan - 19; Boris - 24; Sergey - 24.

**Disclaimer: **Beyblade not mine!

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><p><strong>Stress Reliever<br>Step Two**

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><p>An awkward silence surrounded the dining room while Rei took a bite of his breakfast pancake. He had the unfortunate luck to be seated in front of Yuriy, he could just feel him glaring at him with utmost disgust. He didn't know why the scarlet-haired Russian would be so annoyed at him, it's not like he's done anything to anger him. Sure, Rei didn't have any communication with Kai—and the Neo Borg for that matter—someone who he considered a close friend, for the past <em>six<em> years and he just showed up suddenly without notice—

Oh.

Rei munched on some bacon, realizing he was annoyed with himself too.

More awkward silence.

"There's coffee if you want some," Sergey's voice broke Rei from his internal grunting that he nearly jumped up from his seat.

"T-thanks," he pathetically mumbled in response, looking away. He felt so weird. Here he was thinking the Neo Borg were out to murder him, or at the very least toy with his mind, well, weren't they like that when he last saw them? But of course it _has _been six fucking years, things may had changed. Still, the last thing he would think of the Russians was offering him coffee.

Awkward silence.

"What's the time and day today?" Five set of eyes stared at him as if he just asked a very stupid question. Which he probably did. Now he felt actually stupid. "I mean," he began to explain, trying to regain face, "I came from a different timezone, so..." Somehow it felt like it wasn't working. But he's telling the truth!

Kai took a glance at his watch. "9:04 AM, Sunday."

"Thanks Kai," he began to adjust his own watch to the correct time. At least Kai understood him.

...When would this awkward silence end?

As Rei finished up his food, his mind started to drift off somewhere; he wasn't normally like this. _This_, as in nervous, shy, tense and distracted—in fact, he was quite shameless, he DID show up here without notice; and reckless, he took on Russia without knowing his way through. Maybe it was because of the fact that he was surrounded by people he didn't expect. If it was only Kai, then maybe he wouldn't be like this... But of course it was silly of him _not _to expect the Neo Borg to be with Kai.

"Which one is it this week?" Ivan cut him off from his thoughts though the question was not directed at him.

Yuriy cast Ivan a quick glance. "Cafe Euphoria."

_Cafe...? _Rei mused.

The indigo-haired teen scanned the screen of his laptop. "Ah well, Ykovich hasn't arrived yet—again—"

Rei was becoming confused. What are they talking about?

Kai took a sip from his coffee before nodding, "We leave at ten o'clock." The others, fully understanding what just transpired, gestured their nods in reply and continued eating.

Okay, now Rei's really confused. "What?" The Chinese quickly clamped a hand over his mouth—he didn't mean to say that out loud! "Ah crap—"

Boris glared at him. "Mind your own business, cat."

...And the awkward silence was back.

"I'm done," Ivan quickly closed off the lid of his laptop and left the dining room with it.

Boris didn't even say anything before stepping out of the room.

Yuriy put down his hands on the table as he stood up. "Kai," he leaned a bit towards him, "I hope what you said was true." Giving Rei one last glare, he disappeared.

Sergey motioned to stand up and begin gathering the plates—

"NO—" The tall man glanced at the black-haired Chinese...Rei had a sorry look on his face. "I mean, I'll do it. It's the least I could do." Sergey gave him his nod and left the room as well.

Rei slumped back in his chair, sighing. That went horribly bad. Of course, the fact that they tolerated him didn't mean they want or like him around. As much as he hated to admit it but Boris was right, he should damn well mind his own business. He sighed again.

And Kai was merely observing with his crimson eyes. "You know they're normal like that."

Rei frowned. "Yes I know, unfortunately."

Taking one last sip of his coffee, Kai continued, "You have to get used to it if you're planning on staying long." He stood up from his seat, and with a nod from him and a sad smile from Rei, he left.

Rei glared at nothing. "I also know that...unfortunately..."

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><p>x<p>

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><p>Yuriy noticed Sergey exiting the dining room sooner. It only took a second for him to put two and two together, after all he was quite a genius. "<em>He <em>might be useful after all, as a maid."

"Shut up and get ready," Kai's voice told him off as he appeared in the living room.

"Aww, Kai's so over-protective of the kitty-cat," Yuriy mock-cooed as he rolled his crystal blue eyes. He received a glare from the slate-haired Russian, clearly the man was not amused.

"You might have forgotten that Kai has a soft spot for felines."

Kai was slightly taken aback with the statement, a small blush forming on his cheeks for a split second. That came from Sergey who was just casually standing there in one spot...obviously a bit more attentive than the redhead. He could only look at the blond in a disapproving glare, not wanting to say anything to confirm or deny the allegation.

However Yuriy was more visibly shocked... "Yeah, well..." ...and did he look offended?

"Should I give Ykovich a call or...?" Ivan piped up effectively distracting the three of them.

"No," Kai immediately replied, crossing his arms. "Let her realize it on her own." His scarlet eyes trailed off at the sides when he noticed Rei coming out of the dining room. Although it wasn't only him who noticed; the other Russians did too, and as soon as the Chinese was at full view in the living room, they all left swiftly.

Rei grimaced. He _knew _what that meant.

"I should always keep you around, it scares them away," Kai smirked at him. He was the only one left. Again.

"Very funny," Rei gave him a bored look before sitting on the nearest chair. He couldn't blame Neo Borg for acting the way they do, though. If he was in their position he'd probably act the same. Besides he wasn't expecting any miracles—honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if after the end of _this _all, they still wouldn't want him around.

Kai, still with his arms crossed, walked in front of Rei with a domineering air around him. Rei's eyebrows shot up—he also knew what this meant; _serious mode._ "As you heard me say earlier, we will leave at exactly ten o'clock," he began, staring down at the attentive Rei, "Additional house rules—do not enter the rooms in this floor along the hallways, they're private bedrooms, except for the rooms at the end."

"Bathrooms," Rei remembered, nodding.

"Clean up after yourself, but I don't think I have to tell you that. I know you can cook—" Kai paused suddenly at the cringe Rei exhibited, but thought nothing of it. He continued. "So if ever you get hungry, you know where the kitchen is. You can do whatever you want." He paused again, as if pondering over something. "And probably water the plants..."

"Haha, okay I'll water the plants."

"Behave." Kai turned around, signifying the end of their conversation. He was about to head for his room when Rei spoke up again.

"Y'know, I finally noticed something that changed about you."

Kai looked over his shoulder to beckon Rei to explain.

He grinned. "You talk a whole lot more now."

...

Kai turned away and as he bowed his head a bit, he mumbled, "We will return at around four or five," finally able to go to his room to prepare for their leave.

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><p>x<p>

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><p>Ten o'clock passed and sure enough, the five Russian men left with Kai's car without even bothering to say their goodbyes to him, with the exception of Kai of course. Really, was he expecting anything more? Anyway, making sure of his promise to Kai, Rei went to the backyard with the goal of watering the plants. As soon as he found the water hose and the faucet, he began the rather mundane task.<p>

Something struck him about the plants though; they were thoroughly tended. It's not like somebody just tossed some seeds and plants and let nature take its course—_somebody_ was taking care of them. Rei snickered aloud. _Them_, taking care of plants? They even had catnip! Rei didn't know what it's for, they didn't exactly have a cat around...well, he did read something that catnip acts as mosquito repellent...and catnip tea was delicious...

As Rei walked around the garden watering the plants, he noticed they also had fruits. Such as strawberries. _Somebody must love strawberries that much, _he snickered again, though he didn't bother deducting _who _or he might hurt his head. He wouldn't be surprised if it was Kai, though. That man loved sweets! He might had successfully hidden that trait from everybody else but Rei knew who was sneaking candies from Max's stash, and it wasn't Takao. Or Hiromi. Or Kyoujyu. Or himself.

At another part of the garden, there were vegetables. Rei wondered, do they eat these themselves? He just couldn't imagine _them _being vegetarians, weren't they the type of people to be meat-lovers? He shook his head, scolding himself for stereotyping. Growing vegetables didn't automatically mean they're vegetarians, right? Heck, he himself's growing vegetables back home—

"Aaarggh REI! Stop thinking about that!" he shouted at himself as he dropped the hose, closed the faucet and stalked back inside.

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><p>x<p>

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><p>The wall clock glared a 10:35 at him as if mocking him. He still had six hours before the Russians return, and he didn't know what to do.<p>

Unless he checks the second floor...after all he hadn't seen it.

Anything to distract him.

Settling with this decision he climbed the only stairs to the second floor, the first thing greeting him was the glass door to the balcony in front of the house. He already knew what's at the front anyway; the area where Kai's _cars_ were parked—actually there's only the SUV now since they used the sedan—the walkway to the gate, the gate, and the main road. Nothing special. Turning around, he found himself staring at glass panes again from afar, this time they were overlooking the backyard, similar to how that wall at the first floor was styled. Rei decided that Kai liked glass panes.

Anyway after a few more minutes of walking around he learned that the room Kai was talking about must've been the room just beside the stairs, since it _was _the first door he saw, aside from the balcony door. Stepping in front of the door, he grasped out for the handle, eager to check out the room—when he decided against it, putting it off for later to leave a bit of suspense...to his own amusement. Sometimes he just _knew_ he's a masochist.

On the same wall where 'his' bedroom door was located was another door. _Must be a bathroom_, he mused, and sure enough he was right when he went to take a look. Ah well, since he's on his way to the left wing, might as well check it out too. The next door he encountered was a 'push door' unlike the other doors in this house. Upon entering it, he smirked. _Figures. _It was a private gym with a lot of different machines Rei didn't even the know names of, well not like it mattered as long as he knew how to use them! _It's been a while since I had any serious training, _he admitted. _I should go back here later..._ He finally concluded before exiting.

He headed for the last door on that wing. Apparently it was a mini-library of sorts, equipped with two computers and a desk, not to mention the countless amount of books. As expected of Kai.

How about the right wing?

Upon reaching it, Rei was surprised; he hadn't noticed it before but the right wing didn't have a corridor like the other side, instead it was graced by a gigantic door. He clutched the handle and gave it a gentle yank—_locked_. Whatever this room was must be something important, so Rei decided to give it a rest and went back in front of his supposed bedroom.

The Chinese glared at the imposing door. This was the thing that separates him from his future and how the rest of his days in Kai's house would go. He tilted his head slightly at the side as if to emphasize his thinking; he wondered how it looked like inside. Like a hotel room, perhaps? He did observe that it was a fairly large room...maybe this was the master's bedroom after all? No, Kai told him that this would be his room.

_Okay_. Rei breathed in, reaching out for the handle—

_Ring._

Not. Good.

"Ah shit..." Rei grumbled under his breath as he grabbed his phone from his pocket, mulling over the screen—

_Rick._

The phone kept ringing and ringing, and Rei kept staring and staring. Should he answer it or not? Should he answer it or not? Should he—

The call was dropped from the other side, resulting in a missed call. Rei ran his hand through his raven hair...this was sooner than he expected. A grim look was starting to form on his face when the phone lit up again and a message was received. Rei pressed a key to have a read.

"Yo, man. Just telling ya Mao's in a fit. Who wouldn't be, seeing you just vanished in a span of few hours."

Rei cringed. "Damn, Rick..." he sighed, running his thumb over the reply button. He closed his eyes; pangs of guilt was starting to consume him. Should he reply?

...

No. That would beat the purpose.

Without giving it any further thought he pressed the 'off' button.

Was he doing the right thing?

...That gym seemed like a good idea right now.

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><p>x<p>

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><p>Hours passed and Rei took little notice of it, at least until his stomach grumbled a protest, and a quick glance at the clock told him it's 12:52 PM. He grabbed a towel and wiped off his sweat...he should probably head down to the kitchen and cook up something. Yeah, that sounded good...so he did just that.<p>

On his way to the kitchen he passed by a window and saw a car pulling up on the driveway. Wait, didn't Kai say they're returning at around four? And that car looked damn like Kai's—

His thoughts were confirmed when one by one the Russians got off the vehicle. Okay, so they were a _little _early, and why the heck was he so nervous? He didn't know why but he had the sudden urge to hide, so before they managed to get in the house he scampered into the kitchen.

It was Kai who opened the front door. "How many times do I have to tell you Boris—threatening a customer is a BAD thing."

"He was pissing me off!" the light-haired man reasoned as if it was a valid excuse as he stomped inside.

Just as then Yuriy entered the house. "Yeah, because he can't decide between choco mousse and strawberry parfait." Boris only glared and didn't say anything.

"Kai," Sergey interjected, "it is also unwise of you to employ Boris at the counter."

"Huh. I guess I overestimated him," Kai quipped, followed with a loud string of Russian curses coming from the background.

Rei's interest was starting to pick up as he cut down some vegetables. He knew eavesdropping was bad, but he couldn't help overhear the conversation when they're being so loud!

"Anyway, that's not such a problem, right Boris?" Kai crossed his arms, his words laced with sarcasm, "when you literally scared half the customers."

The other man shrugged. "Their loss."

"It is OUR loss because we're the ones providing service!" the redhead threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. Why must Boris be so thick-headed?

Rei was now pouring oil over the pan, still minding his own business, and with the Russians still being loud.

"Geez, just shut up, what's done is done!" It was Ivan who spoke up as he plopped down on the sofa. "We all learned an important lesson—never put Boris in ANYTHING related to customer relations or everything will just FUCK UP!"

"Hey, FUCK YOU—"

"Enough." Kai ordered. "I'll say this only once—_this will never happen AGAIN_." Four nods were received.

Boris continued to grumble. "This is the goddamned reason why I'm not some half-assed P.A.—"

"I resent that!" Yuriy cut him off.

"STOP." Kai pinched the bridge of his nose and sat down on a chair. Sometimes they were such children...

When the annoying awkward silence came about it was only then they heard the clashing sounds of utensils from the kitchen.

Realization sunk in.

Yuriy stared at the kitchen for a good while before turning away his head in defeat. "Fuckin' great," he stormed off somewhere. As if it was the cue Boris cast a hateful glare towards the kitchen before going to the second floor. Sergey then properly excused himself for the study room and Ivan went for his bedroom.

For the second time that day, Kai was left alone in the living room.

He arched his head to rest on the backrest, wondering briefly just how to go through with _this_... Looking pathetic definitely wasn't how. He stood up and immediately went for the kitchen.

Rei was holding a wok in one hand and a spatula in the other, about to finish cooking.

"How much did you hear?"

When Rei turned around to give a questioning look at Kai, he found him leaning against the door frame with arms crossed across his chest. It struck kind of peculiar to the Chinese, not because of Kai's pose; it was the fact that Kai was wearing a formal suit, it was simple and yet he managed to look _really _good in it. Rei secretly envied him for that, he could never look good in anything aside from Chinese-themed clothes! Pouting a bit he turned back to his cooking.

"Kai, you were all talking in Russian," Rei replied like it answered Kai's question.

"Bullshit, I know you can understand the language."

Rei smirked to himself, well, he was partially correct. He could understand a bit of Russian and basic sentence structure and whatnot, but not those big and complicated words. "Just enough to deduct that something terrible happened concerning Boris and customers."

Kai straightened up from the door frame. He had a somewhat half-glare and half-stare at the black-haired man as if he was hesitant about something. Well, whatever that was it seemed that he came to a conclusion when he walked up to the island bar and sat on a bar stool. "I knew it was a bad decision but I had no choice with the situation," he muttered, more to himself than to Rei.

The Chinese nodded although honestly, he had no fucking idea what Kai was talking about. Anyway, finally done cooking he grabbed a plate and placed it on the bar, transferring the contents of the wok onto it.

Rei sighed. It's enough that he's the only one depressed, he didn't need Kai looking gloomier than he was. "Kai," he started, placing the wok back on the stove, "I know I shouldn't be snooping around and just minding my own business. I barely understood your conversation, honest. But know this," he turned around to stare at those crimson eyes, "If there's something I could do to help, it's the least I could do for you letting me stay here."

His words sounded better than he'd expected, thankfully...no response though. Shrugging he went over to sit beside Kai and began eating his newly-cooked food.

As soon as he did though he felt a sudden chill run down his spine. Kai was watching him...intently? Rei wouldn't admit it but he was beginning to feel a bit awkward, it's not exactly a nice feeling being watched while you're forking oily carrots in your mouth.

"What's that?" the Russian inquired, nodding his head towards Rei's food.

"Uh, vegetable stir fry," he replied, not really sure why Kai would ask such a silly question. "I was really hungry and this is fast and easy to cook so..."

More staring. More awkwardness...

Until Kai spoke up again. "Have you seen your room yet?"

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p><em>I trust Kai. He knows what's best for me. He always does.<em>

A pale-haired man was currently slumped down on a bed, clutching a magazine.

_So..._

_Why the hell am I rooming with BORIS?_

Rei glanced nervously at the man beside him who immediately caught it.

"Relax. Boris knows not to touch you."

A sneer. "Like I'd want to," Boris' voice came from behind the sports magazine. Rei didn't know whether to be relieved or be offended.

The bedroom actually looked normal despite it being the psychopathic Russian's. It had light-yellow walls and a grayish carpet. Rei took note of Boris' bed; it was at the far end of the room, at the opposite corner from the door. He could guess that just behind the wall it was lined up against was the balcony he found earlier that day. Aside from the beds and the drawers and the closets, it was mainly the shelves that occupied most of the walls, stuffed with random things. A circular table was placed at the middle of the room.

"This will be your bed," Kai walked towards the empty bed on the other corner of the room, parallel to the same wall where the door was located. "You can put your clothes here," he gestured for the drawers beside the bed that also served as a mini-divider between his space and Boris'. He then motioned at the desk near the feet of the bed. "And a desk for whatever purpose. Boris doesn't like his things touched."

Boris put down his magazine just to smirk at the cat. "_Quid pro quo_."

"What?"

"Equivalent exchange," Kai explained. "Don't touch his stuff, he won't touch...you."

"Want to die Hiwatari?"

Kai ignored the other Russian as if receiving death threats was perfectly normal. "Rei, fix your things. We will have snacks at four."

Rei bit back a giggle—_Snacks? _Was it really mandatory to eat snacks at his house? Though he had no chance to ask about it since the slate-haired man promptly left without any more delays. He hung down his head; he was alone now...with Boris.

He didn't hold back letting out a sigh.

"Don't worry, I don't bite."

Rei didn't know what's weirder; the fact that Boris was telling him not to worry, or the fact that he was even talking to him. Most probably both, Boris was THAT weird in a...really scary way.

Finally removing himself from the door the raven-haired man stumbled to his drawers, dragging along his stuffed bag. Well. If he's going to spend the following days along with creepy, scary Russian then he might as well start adjusting to _that _now. So far he had two plans on how to go about it; one, he could ignore him entirely, or two, try to befriend him. Plan A seemed the most logical and had better survival-effort ratio.

He began opening the drawers and his bag, putting clothes where they fit.

Boris still hadn't stopped staring. He'd been doing that ever since he put down his magazine... If Rei found Kai watching him eat his food awkward, then this was just downright creepily...annoying.

"See something you like?" Rei snapped, mentally slapping his forehead. He forgot an important life lesson—do NOT piss off people you know that had the capability to kill when they want to. That really wasn't the best move from him, was it?

Thankfully it seemed Boris wasn't in one of _those _moods. "I'm just waiting for you to do something stupid."

What?

Boris just shrugged at him and went back to his magazine.

_Okay..._ The Chinese was just getting even more creeped out. What the hell was that about? Eh, he didn't want to think about it anymore. Finishing his chore he put his bag, along with the remainder of his belongings inside of it, on top of the drawer and went back to the bed, sighing.

"If you hate me that much," Rei's raven head snapped up from the voice to see the Russian reading the magazine, "move out."

_Hate? _Rei cringed at the word. It was such a strong and heavy verb it didn't feel right to be using it so casually like that. Probably a more appropriate term would be _dislike_, but still...

"Look," he began, running a hand through his hair, "I don't _hate _you, alright. It's just, everything's still a big shock to me, that's all."

"Like you're one to talk. You just fucking appeared on the couch."

Hah, he did have a frigging point there. "Well to be honest," he chuckled a bit to the glaring Russian, "I also don't have a goddamned clue what the hell I'm doing."

...

"Just don't poke your nose into other people's businesses or _else_." With a final glare Boris got off his bed and left the room.

Huh. First he was all casual, talking like that and the next he actually threatened him. Rei sighed, again scolding himself for forgetting who he was talking with. These people were just making sure that _he _knew his place in this household.

And he should start digging that through his head, after all who's to say his _vacation _would be short-lived?

...

Rei buried his face into his hands.

_What the hell am _I _doing?_

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Additional Notes: <strong>For those who are having a hard time picturing the house, I made a mock-up version using The Sims game. Haha. It's not exactly 100% accurate on how I pictured it in my mind but it's fairly close, considering the limitations I had to work with. I also purposely left some rooms empty because Rei haven't been in there yet.

You can find the pictures here: _photobucket . com / srpix_  
>Password: <em>stress<em>

About Cafe Euphoria, I just thought of the name, and if there are real shops out there with the name then it's only a coincidence!

Thanks for reading, till next chapter.

_Lei-Lei_


	3. Step Three

_November 26, 2011_

**Warning: **Coarse language.

Thank you for the reviews and faves. About the house, thank you as well! I know I'm not the best interior designer...or architect...or engineer...but I hope it is sufficient enough!

As always I believe it is my duty to inform you guys that my stories are usually _slow-paced_ and _long_.

Also I apologize for my slow updates. There's no excuse for it except for procrastination.

**Disclaimer: **Beyblade not mine!

* * *

><p><strong>Stress Reliever<br>Step Three**

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went uneventful. Aside from the "snacks" as Kai so eloquently put it, and by that he really did mean eating snacks—specifically sweets—<em>they<em> were talking about some business stuff that Rei still had no idea what was about. Then evening came, they had a silent dinner, afterwards Rei decided to go to the study to check out the books. Unfortunately most of them were in Russian although there were a few English and Japanese, and with the little choice he had he took one to bed and read until he fell asleep. And that was still fairly early, about nine in the evening...well. Not much to do anyway.

Rei woke up at six AM. His normal routine.

"Ugh..." he stirred awake from his sleep, blinking his eyes open. What—this wasn't his room—

Oh, right. Kai's house in good ol' Russia.

He glanced at his left, finding a burly pale-haired man sprawled on his bed on the other side of the room.

Oh, right. Boris' room.

Slowly, he sat from the bed and put a hand on his head. Did he need to remind himself where he was every time he wakes up? If he's going to go through with this he might as well do a decent job at it. Not wanting to dwell on it any further he got off the bed and rummaged the drawer for a fresh set of clothes. He didn't even bother thinking if he was too noisy to wake up his roommate, he probably assumed that the other person was a heavy sleeper. Stretching his limbs, he proceeded to go out and into the bathroom next door.

Boris let out a muffled growl before turning to the other side.

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p>About thirty minutes passed and Rei already finished taking a bath, currently taking liberties in the kitchen preparing some coffee, when a voice stopped him from his musing.<p>

"If I want to look for you, I check the kitchen?"

"Ooh, I'm Kai, I'm such a comedian!" was Rei's lame comeback as he handed the Russian a mug of coffee. Kai only smirked at him and took the offering.

Completely forgetting that he was ridiculed, Rei happily took a sip from his own coffee. It was just something he had been accustomed to for the past years—how much he enjoyed drinking this hot, bittersweet beverage early in the morning.

Kai was staring at him again. Maybe it was a habit he formed himself over the amount of time they haven't seen each other? He definitely didn't do that back when they were still blading...did that mean Rei have to get used to this nagging unusualness?

"I never thought you'd be the coffee type," Kai finally spoke up before bringing his cup to his lips.

"Hah, I bet you're thinking that I should be drinking tea instead."

Kai let out a "Hn." before resuming drinking his coffee.

Rei heaved a contented sigh. It's been a while since he experienced this kind of bliss; rising up early in the morning to have delicious, warm coffee while basking in the sun's rays in peaceful silence. Not thinking about anything, worrying about nothing. How did he miss this, anyway?

Oh...right.

"Do you have anything else to do today?" Kai broke him off from his contemplation as Rei took a glance at the Russian.

Did he have anything else to do? _At all? _He remembered that night before he arrived here at Moscow; he was actually thinking of the same thing at that very moment. But he didn't dawdle on it though and let his instincts take over. Next thing he knew he was standing in front of this building with a paper clutched in his hand, his messy handwriting scrawled on it with the address of a certain Kai Hiwatari.

"No, not really," he answered truthfully, setting down his now empty mug by the sink. "Except maybe water the plants."

Kai chuckled—a genuine chuckle—Rei couldn't help but feel impressed with himself, he actually made Kai laugh. It was such a nice and fulfilling feeling. "Then you will join us today."

"Join where?"

The slate-haired Russian put down his cup. "If you're staying here, I might as well tell you what I do for work."

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p>"You're bringing <em>him<em>?"

Yuriy's angered voice sliced through the vast, office-like room. His face only gave confirmation of his fury.

"I see no wrong with it," Kai replied coolly as he arranged some papers on his desk.

_No wrong? _"First you let him stay without questions, now you're letting him interfere with WORK?" The redhead slammed his hands on the desk, slightly shaking with rage. The other three of the Russians were on the other parts of the room, just silently watching the exchange.

"He would not be _interfering_. In fact he might prove useful."

Yuriy glared. "You're opening up too much, Kai."

Kai would not let it deter his decision. "He was a teammate. And a friend."

_A friend? _Yuriy walked away from the office desk and paced towards the other side of the room, his hands fisted at his sides, still shaking. "Aren't WE your friends too?"

Kai couldn't understand. What was it that's bothering Yuriy so much? "What do you have against him?"

And as if it was the question he's waiting for, the scarlet-haired man turned around again to face his _friend_. "WE," he put as much emphasize on the word as he could, "do _not _trust him!"

"...I do."

...

"Of course..." Yuriy mumbled as he finally calmed down, settling himself on a plush chair and crossing his arms. The other three were still quiet, mulling over what the hell just happened.

Kai cleared his throat to rid of the forming silence. "Anybody else who have something in their minds?"

Boris, who was leaning on the wall with arms crossed on his chest, did have something in mind. "He better not touch my stuff."

"Anybody else who have something _relevant _in their minds?"

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p>Aside from the increased intensity of the glares during breakfast, it went pretty well actually. Rei wasn't exactly sure what caused it, but he'd bet his bank account that it had something to do with his sudden accompaniment to their workplace. It didn't bother him at all to be honest; of course <em>they<em> would hate the idea, he could take that. But what struck him as sort of odd was the fact that Kai had complete control of the situation.

Hm. Well it's _Kai_, so that's to be expected. During the times that he returned to the Neo Borg's lineup he was always assigned as the captain.

With six of them now leaving the house, they had to use the SUV, Boris muttering something about "useless brat" as he drove them off to their supposed workplace. Rei was seated at the middle of the vehicle, and thankfully Kai decided to sit by him and needed little force to make Yuriy go to the passenger seat instead. Ivan and Sergey were at the back, not even thinking of sitting next to him.

As the vehicle travelled across the distance, Rei couldn't help but notice some things that he failed to pay attention to before; they were going to work but it seemed none of them were wearing formal suits or even uniforms, except for Kai. Most of them were just in casual clothes and it made Rei wonder what kind of work do they do in the first place. And, as funny as this may sound, but even though the Chinese had been on several encounters with Kai for the past two days, it was only then in that car that he realized that he no longer had those blue markings on his face.

It was something obvious and yet he didn't see...but it's not like Rei was complaining; Kai looked a whole lot nicer without those things on his cheeks.

Maybe it was because that he had associated those triangles with his face that Rei no longer found the intent to notice it. Or maybe it was because that he had always stared at those crimson eyes whenever he found himself talking with Kai. Either way, it didn't really matter.

The vehicle came to a gradual stop, as Kai turned to him and said, "We're here." In a matter of seconds they all got out and Rei was left gaping at the building they were in front of.

"A _cafe_?" Rei's golden eyes were still wide open as he studied the sign on top of the door: _Cafe Euphoria_. A sign full of cute little designs of flowers and ribbons. The door and the windows had the same theme too.

Kai stood next to him as the rest of the team went inside the so-called cafe.

"A CAFE?" Rei repeated, turning his head towards Kai who smirked in response.

"What's wrong with a cafe?"

"Well, nothing, but...but the fact that you? Or them? Working in a quaint little cafe serving coffee and pastries..." It just didn't connect! Scary Neo Borg plus cute cafe equals? Cannot comprehend!

"Would it make you feel better if I say I don't serve because I am the owner?"

What.

Rei fidgeted uneasily. "Not really."

Alright. So in a matter of six years, a lot could happen. A lot could change. Maybe the Neo Borg's preference of line of duties had changed too. It wasn't...impossible, just really, really inconceivable. Rei suddenly froze on his spot—maybe he hadn't known them right after all.

"Shall we take a look inside?" Kai offered, gesturing for the door.

When they got inside, it held the same, cutesy feeling the sign had; flowers and ribbons adorned the interior, and everything was designed with a pink and brown theme. PINK! He didn't have anything against pink but relating the color to the Neo Borg was disturbing. Besides, pink reminded him of fuzzy and pleasant things, not to mention his very close friend Mao—

His face faulted.

Kai noticed.

"What's Boris doing over there...?" Rei tried to distract himself as he pointed to the man sitting at the corner of the shop, looking as bored and evil as one could get...times two because this is Boris.

"He's off limits from the cashier and kitchen duty..." Kai replied as he remembered the awful memory from yesterday. "So he's doorman now."

Rei stifled a laugh. "_Doorman?_" _More like a bouncer! _The slate-haired Russian didn't share his sentiments though as he only got a shrug in response. Oh well...moving on. "So what do the others do?"

"Sergey's the cook, Yuriy's the cashier. Ivan waits or helps Sergey in the kitchen."

"So...what do YOU do?"

"I...supervise?"

Rei chuckled as he sat down on the nearest chair. "Typical Kai." Pausing a bit to stare at the two-toned-haired man, he continued, "Your suit seems out of place in a cafe though."

"I just got used to it." Hah, another _typical Kai_ answer. Never straightforward, always vague. Rei could only shake his head and smile; another aspect of Kai that didn't change. That's going to be under the _"Still the same" _category. But anyway, something just didn't make sense out of this, and it's been bugging Rei to no end the moment he stepped out of the car.

He decided to ask and take his chances. "So who thought of the pink theme?"

"Hired interior designer. She said it gives off a warm and homey feeling, whatever that meant," Kai answered nonchalantly as if the question had been asked to him so many times before...which wouldn't be surprising—heck, if you see a cute little cafe and found out the owner and staff were a bunch of manly, burly Russians wouldn't you be curious too? That designer was right though, it certainly made Rei feel a little bit homesick—

He smiled cheekily. "Really? I would've bet my soul it was Boris who presented the idea, after all he seems like the type, y'know?" That made Kai laugh a bit, and suddenly Rei lost all feeling of homesickness.

"I _wil__l_ kill you_, _Kon," a grumpy, angry voice made the Chinese felt like he had won something that moment...then he remembered, he _really _shouldn't be messing around somebody who could kill when they will it. Well, Boris couldn't touch him when Kai's around! And both him and Rei were living in Kai's house so he's technically invulnerable—aside from the bedroom where there's only the two of them.

Oh crap...maybe Boris would kill him later when he's sleeping.

"He won't kill you," Kai stated as if he was reading his mind. "Like I said, Boris knows _not _to touch you." He turned his eyes to the fuming Russian, waiting for confirmation.

However Boris only gritted his teeth. "Fuck you and your fucking money," he growled, pulling away from the chair he was sitting on and stomped outside the cafe.

"He has this weird belief that I use my wealth for everything," the slate-haired Russian explained when Rei gave him a quizzical look. Ah well, still didn't explain that weird reaction...but he decided to take the reason nonetheless.

Trying to change the subject once more, Rei questioned, "When do you open?"

"In about ten minutes," Kai replied as he glanced at his watch. "By the way, could you please follow me to the kitchen." It was more of an order rather than a request, but Rei wasn't bothered by it and did as he was told. Moments later they were at the cafe's kitchen, undoubtedly clean and well-kept, with Sergey preparing ingredients for the different sandwiches that went with the shop's coffee selections. At that point something was beginning to unravel to the Chinese, but he still wasn't quite sure about it yet and made no comment about it. Kai however was decisive with what he was about to do and when he noticed the brief look of realization on Rei's face, it made him feel somewhat complacent.

"Here," he broke off Rei from his thoughts as he neared into an archway leading to a different room—the staff room. This place was bigger than Rei thought, apparently.

"So..." the black-haired man trailed off, unsure of voicing out his thoughts but when Kai prompted him to continue, he did. "So I take it you'd like to talk to me about something."

The other man nodded.

"You didn't bring me here just to 'show me around'," Rei went on, analyzing the situation he was put in. "You want to ask a _favor_. Or threaten me to do something, whichever works."

"Threatening is always more effective."

"Against me? Think again buddy," Rei chuckled, and Kai gave him a smirk. "So what is it?"

"We're short on staff," the man crossed his arms over his chest, back to his serious and indifferent atmosphere. "This place is more popular than we expected. Another cook would be very helpful..." He stopped to study the expression on the Chinese's face—he wasn't surprised a bit, that must mean he figured it out right earlier. As expected of Rei.

"Give me the recipe list then."

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p>Rei just finished eating his lunch when he was suddenly pulled out of his chair not-so-gracefully. It had only been about three hours since the shop opened; Kai wasn't kidding when he said the cafe was popular—he already had to work extra hard because the orders kept on piling up and him and Sergey were just barely keeping up. Thankfully a bit later than the normal lunchtime—it was already about one in the afternoon—people had stopped pouring in and the cooks and the waiter had enough time to eat <em>their <em>lunch.

Well what about the cashier?

Back to Rei being pulled out of his chair not-so-gracefully.

"Sub," Yuriy commanded, his fist still clamped on Rei's collar.

Rei panicked. He didn't know how to use their hi-tech register—

"On second thought," the redhead interrupted him before he could even voice out his thoughts, "you wait. Ivan, cashier," he turned to the teen who was still in the middle of eating his sandwich.

"Oh c'mon! I'm still eating—"

"NOW."

With a glare and a flip of his finger Ivan stormed back to the counter, taking his half-eaten sandwich with him, not really caring if the customers would find it appropriate for the cashier to be eating while taking orders.

"_You_," Yuriy turned back to the Chinese who was standing there confused and amused at the same time, "what the hell are you still doing here?"

Rei didn't know if he should answer truthfully and risk angering the Wolf. He's already on bad terms with them and making it worse wouldn't make anything better...but what the heck man, he asked. "Well for starters, you're still gripping my collar—" And it was immediately released! Bravo for excellent reflexes! On a side note, there were no signs of anger. "Thanks...by the way where's Kai?" Completely irrelevant, yes, but he wanted to slip that question for a while now because after that incident three hours ago, the suit-wearing cafe-owner suddenly _vanished_. Without a word.

Yuriy shot him a who-the-hell-do-you-think-you-are look. Yeah, like Yuriy's going to answer him. Real smart Rei.

Shrugging, he just went to obey the scarlet-haired Russian before Kai finds his body in a ditch somewhere. Besides if he thought about it, basing on their team's "hierarchy"—if ever they had such a thing—if it wasn't Kai giving orders, it would definitely be Yuriy since he _was _the team captain during their Beyblading days. And about Kai's disappearance? He should ask the person himself, preferably when he was actually around.

"Did you try a new recipe, Sergey? It's pretty good," Rei heard Yuriy's voice from a distance as he neared the kitchen door to the main area—

_Whoa_. The place was _packed_. Thankfully most of these people already had their orders with them.

"Where the fuck were you?" Ivan snapped at him when he appeared from the other side of the swing door. "You're so slow I had to get _Boris _to wait! And I bet you know how _that _goes, since you eavesdropped on us and all."

What? It's not as if he intended for _that_ to happen—they were screaming their heads off he bet even the neighbors heard what they were fighting about—and _fluently_, at that! He barely understood what was going on and—

Ivan hastily shoved a piece of paper on his chest while he was having this internal dialogue which he pathetically did not voice out. Again. "Table six. Go, go!" he grumbled, pushing Rei back in the kitchen as he went to take the order of the next customer.

Rei's not mad. No, not even if they were treating him like this. They could just ask, you know? Instead they had to resort to pushing and pulling him around—_literally—_but to be honest, he's somewhat used to this kind of this treatment. Though it gets tiring after a while...one of the many reasons why he decided to go to Russia in the first place—

He glanced at the paper; "Sunshine Salami Sub" was first on the list and as with the different names for the food here, he refused to think about who the hell named these things.

Minutes later he had the orders on a tray, carefully treading his way to table number six...which took a while since he wasn't really sure where he was going. Thankfully the two girls who were waiting for their orders didn't look ready to strangle him. "Here are your orders," Rei slurred in his unpracticed Russian, placing the plates of sandwiches on their table. "Sunshine Salami Sub and Eggstatic Delight!" He _swore _he didn't want to know whom of the Neo Borg thought of these names.

"Are you new here?" one of the girls smiled at him, her English covered in thick accent. Rei inwardly sighed; thank you for the globally-used language.

"Yes," partially true. He didn't work here but he _was _new in Russia in general. "Just yesterday." Now _that _one's entirely true!

"I told you _words _Cafe Euphoria _morewords _pretty boys!" the other girl whispered to her friend and they both giggled in unison.

Rei didn't get some of the Russian but he was pretty sure he heard "Cafe Euphoria" and "pretty boys" in one sentence.

HOLD ON—so this place was known to have _pretty boys _as staff? He didn't know if that's a good thing or not; he's been called "pretty" on numerous occassions and he didn't mind, after all, his hair that he refused to cut was giving people the impression, not to mention his lean body and—okay, getting off track now—and well, the point was he's used to it. He didn't know about _the _Russians though. And besides, pretty? Kai and Yuriy pretty, maybe, but BORIS, _pretty?_

"Are you okay?" the girls asked him when he was being silent and shaky all over.

"I'm...I'm f-fine," he mumbled, still fighting the laugh that was trying to get through.

"Are you done flirting now?"

A different voice interrupted him this time—and it wasn't even remotely girly, it was definitely a male's...a very familiar male, at that.

"Hi Boris," Rei turned to the other waiter who looked ready to strangle him. Wow, so Kai wasn't kidding when he said Boris scared customers off, just look at that face! These girls seemed to be the exception though since they glanced at him and actually _giggled _again instead of being scared shitless. Anyway, he didn't want to have an argument, and if there ever would be one, he didn't want it to be in front of the customers. So he bid his farewell to the two girls and pulled Boris to the side.

"Just for the record, I was not flirting," Rei explained, clutching the tray at his side.

"The fuck I care?" Boris sneered.

Oh, right. To each his own, minding his own business. But still he was not flirting!

The pale-haired man grimaced and nudged his head towards the counter. And by that he actually meant Ivan, and when Rei glanced at the teen he wished he didn't because the Neo Borg was notorious for looking evil almost all the time. Just like now.

Kai, just where the hell were you?

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p>Closing time was around five PM. That was also about the same time Kai appeared in the cafe again after his disappearance in the morning earlier.<p>

"Did anything interesting happen?" Kai asked, watching Boris and Ivan put the chairs upside down on their tables. The cafe was now devoid of customers and Yuriy was there leaning on the counter, looking bored but still menacing as ever. Sergey was still in the kitchen cleaning up the space.

"Cat flirting all day?" Boris replied indifferently, not even bothering to glance at Kai.

"...Huh," was only the slate-haired man's reply. It wasn't even a word, it was just more like a breath...or something.

"Okay, first of all, I was _not _flirting." Oh, by the way Rei was still there wiping the counter clean. "Second, they're the ones who started the conversation." And by _they _he actually meant the customers; after the first table he waited, Ivan decided, with the former captain's consent, to make him the waiter for the rest of the day. Rei didn't protest because he remembered his promise to Kai—he'd help in _any_ way he could for letting him stay in his house.

And during the four hours he served customers, it dawned to him that about three-fourths of them were...girls. Not just any female, but _girls_, ages ranging from teens to about early twenties. Some of the girls were fans from their Beyblading career—Rei was actually surprised that they recognized him as the "White Tiger"—but most of them were...let's just say, fans of the cafe...to say the least. And yes the girls were the ones who initiate conversation; they knew he was new and was only getting to know him a bit. Which always took some time, much to the Neo Borg's dislike.

"It doesn't matter," Kai sighed, crossing his arms. "What bothers me is you were supposed to be helping Sergey, not waiting."

"My idea," the purple-haired teen admitted as he finished putting up a chair. "You know I hate waiting!"

"And I gave him my yes," Yuriy added. "I'd rather be in the kitchen than face _people _all day."

Rei facepalmed. So making him the waiter was just a product of these men getting away from their supposed tasks, after all. But he's not complaining; it's just that small flicker of hope that maybe somehow, no matter how ridiculous it sounded, that they knew he felt uncomfortable staying in the kitchen and helped him get out—quickly vanished and it made him realize again that these were the people that hated his guts and would never, _ever _have thoughts of helping him. Hell, if they knew he was getting uncomfortable they'd probably leave him there forever.

"Rei."

His head shot up from the sound of his name being called; that's when he noticed that five pairs of eyes were watching him, mostly irritably.

"Rei," Kai repeated, cocking his head to one side, "are you fine being the waiter?"

"I'm okay with it." He _preferred _it.

Kai nodded and signaled for their car parked outside. Without saying any more the Russians exited the cafe one by one, but Boris didn't forget to give Rei a good, long glare and Yuriy rolling his eyes at him. Wow, such cheerful company.

"So Kai," Rei began before Kai could step out of the building, "where did you go?"

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading, till next chapter.<p>

_Lei-Lei_


	4. Step Four

_December 19, 2011_

**Warning: **Coarse language.

Thank you for all the reviews and alerts again! To be honest, you guys just reading my story is enough to make me feel appreciated. Thank you so much.

A note, from now on I will use "Sergey" instead of "Sergei" since I feel it is a more appropriate spelling for his name. I also updated my previous chapters for consistency.

And as always, my chapters are usually _long _and _slow-paced_. So I apologize in advance if the story's progressing slow, but I like it this way. Builds up the tension. Hah!

**Disclaimer: **Beyblade not mine!

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><p><strong>Stress Reliever<br>Step Four**

* * *

><p>Dinner came as soon as they got home from the cafe; after that it was pretty much "do whatever the hell you want". And what <em>did<em> Rei want to do?

_Nothing, _that's what.

Well...maybe pass the time seeing it's only seven-thirty in the evening. Too early to sleep, besides the fact that Rei was far from sleepy. But what to do?

He figured that if he wanted to do some thinking then the bedroom offered the best location; since Boris went out to who knows where and specifically told Kai that he "won't be returning before twelve", he was sure he'd have the room all by himself for a long while. Pleased with this deduction Rei flailed himself onto his bed, laid down and stared straight at the ceiling.

_"I just fixed some paperwork of the cafe, unfortunate that it took more time than expected,"_ Kai's unfeeling voice echoed in the Chinese's mind; a sudden flashback of what transpired earlier that day. Now why the hell would it suddenly show up in his mind—

_"Ah, alright," _oh fuck. _"You just suddenly vanished—" _NO. _"—it...sorta—" _NO! _"—worried me a bit." _Rei wanted to die.

He was _not _supposed to say that aloud. Sure, it was the truth, Kai's disappearance did bug and worried him the whole afternoon but he was NOT supposed to say that aloud! It's just...it was very weird and it didn't feel right...saying it aloud. Even though it was the truth. It was unnecessary information and Kai didn't need to know it. It didn't even matter! Stupid, stupid Rei.

But...what the hell. What's done is done. Thankfully Kai didn't think too much of it and promptly ignored him after, which made Rei feel somewhat better. Thankfully there were no awkwardness that occurred or Rei would really, definitely regret it that he'd have to find a different place to stay in and he didn't want that. Thankfully nothing else weird happened and the trip home plus the dinner was quiet and normal.

Rei sighed and rolled onto his side. _That _definitely wasn't what he wanted to think about. Instead of focusing on matters that should be forgotten, shouldn't he be actually thinking about his whole escapade to Russia? He'd successfully evaded the topic for two days now but sooner or later Kai would start asking again, and he really didn't want to lie. Or Yuriy would force him to talk, which was a more likely scenario, and if taken by surprise he might not have enough time to explain himself properly.

He should've planned this from the beginning...

_Sigh. _Regrets. But, it's too late for them now; now would be a good time to plan his words carefully, just in case Kai decides to inquire again. Heck, _this _wasn't even a big deal to begin with; if he just told Kai the honest truth then probably the man would understand and he wouldn't have these strange feelings of guilt haunting him. WAIT—WHY was he feeling guilty in the first place? He didn't even do anything wrong! On the contrary, he was _always_ doing _everything _right and—

_Calm down, Rei._

...

He wondered...did they bother to contact him at all? Aside from Rick...

_I turned off my phone._

_Shit._

Quickly getting off the bed he rummaged the bag atop the dresser, feeling around for his phone. Sure enough it was stuck somewhere inside and he fished it out; without a doubt the phone was off.

Did he even want to read their messages, if ever? Did he even want to find out if they sent him messages or not? What if they did, would it change anything? What if they didn't?

"Y'know what, fuck you," Rei grumbled at the phone, shoving it back inside his bag. All these questions troubling him were only making his head hurt. He wanted to rest and relax and probably do something productive, not burden himself with questions that he wouldn't be able to answer without feeling conflicted!

"What did the phone ever do to you?" a mocking voice interrupted his internal drama dialogue. Rei immediately turned around to face the door—stupid Russians always catching him off-guard. He's losing his touch...if this was a Beybattle he would've lost already.

And sure enough there was a Russian by the door—not that there were _other _races here aside from him—looking at him strangely, if not amused. Probably annoyed, too.

"Can I help you?" Rei didn't want to sound impatient and unwelcome but it came slightly off; Yuriy raised a scarlet eyebrow at him.

"I'm looking for Boris, not _you_," he replied in the same tone the Chinese used, not even concerned if he offended or not.

Rei inwardly and wistfully shook his head. It was his fault right here for sounding irritated, but he was so deep in thought he didn't have the reflex to control the tone of his voice. Sighing in resign he gave off a small, apologetic smile, "I heard him say he won't be back till twelve," trying to regain some form of neutral ground. Though he knew it was near impossible with all the death glares he'd been receiving from the redhead for the past two days. He didn't know why they hated him that much; he understood that they might be agitated of his sudden arrival...but not to _this _extent. Anyway, it's not like they're going to tell him soon; much like how he planned on keeping "his" from them.

Yuriy only leaned against the doorway with his arms folded on his chest.

Alright, now this was seriously making Rei nervous. Was it that time already when he's going to force him to talk?

"So," the Russian fixed his blue eyes on Rei's golden ones, squinting in seriousness, as Rei's heart began to thump madly. This was it...! "Why are you cursing your phone?"

Wha?

Rei let out a sigh of relief. That was so close. Too close.

"I had a hard time finding it," he lied and sat back down on his bed, feeling his legs weaken from distress. Seriously, he's becoming more pathetic as each day passed. "I almost thought I lost it at the airport." Again, more lying. Anything to get out of this.

"I thought you just dislike the thing. Kai sure does," Yuriy mumbled more to himself than to Rei, who looked quite surprised that the redhead shared something with him—apparently it didn't go unnoticed— "You didn't know, did you? Why the hell am I saying this to you even?" he grumbled, straightening up from the door frame. "Though there _is _something I'd like you to know.

"You're _still _not welcome here."

With that he left, leaving a baffled Rei confused between hurt and remorse.

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p>"Enjoy your meal!"<p>

Two days passed since Yuriy bluntly told him he was unwelcome. To be honest, he had always felt that since he arrived so the concept wasn't new to him, but it's not something you say out loud to the other person, y'know? At least, that's how he was raised back in their village; you try your best to make the guest comfortable even though you don't like them that much. That's exactly why they have these regime of wishing people to enjoy their meal in a cafe—you want them to feel at home even though they might very well be bad people when out there.

True, he's taking this way too seriously. He couldn't help it; those harsh words came from Yuriy. While he's not exactly the most polite or friendliest person in the world, he's still Kai's friend, and Rei, as much as he didn't want to admit it, wanted to be at least on "greeting-terms" with him. By that he actually meant that say, they met each other on the street, they would both say "Hi!" without feeling awkward. The same goes for the rest of the team.

But with how Yuriy regarded him as a person, or rather _not, _that dream kept on floating farther and farther out of reach.

The black-haired Chinese sighed as he went to an empty table and decided to wipe it again. Sighing seemed to be his favorite hobby recently... Anyway at three in the afternoon they had significantly less customers as most had just finished having their late lunches; Rei noticed from previous days that people flock in again during the last hour of the shop.

"Something wrong?" Kai walked up to him—yes, Kai was there, and yes he was wearing a formal attire—hands shoved casually in his pockets, crimson eyes though mostly stoic, still swam with concern. Was he sighing that loud? Rei shook his head in hopes that Kai believes him, opting to hide away his eyes from fear of giving away his true emotions.

Of course he hadn't told Kai about his little confrontation with the redhead; no matter how he looked at it, however Kai reacts to that event, the results were never pretty. It's either him or Yuriy getting humiliated, and he'd rather not have Yuriy humiliated as it might deter future opportunities of reconciliation, nevermind the fact that it's scarce already.

Besides, he had long decided that he'd work it out himself, since he'd abused Kai's kindness enough.

The slate-haired man seemed to have believed him as he turned around, "Then if you need me, I'll be in my office."

That went well...for now. Frowning slightly Rei followed suit but instead headed for the kitchen. When he's not serving anyone or cleaning tables, he stays in the kitchen or the staff room, not like he had much choice anyway. Oftentimes Sergey would require additional assistance with the cooking—he didn't ask for it, but it really did seem like it as Rei would like to believe, because Yuriy couldn't be found anywhere most of the time thus doubling Sergey's workload. Earlier that day the thought kind of slipped out when he commented about the scarlet-haired's absence; Sergey, who appeared to be the most neutral out of the four of Kai's friends, replied with a solemn voice,

"It's not our business."

That piqued Rei's interest quite a bit. Normally they'd tell him off to mind his own, but this time the blond confirmed that even _he _didn't know whatever Yuriy's been up to.

And he actually thought that he could find a way to bond with the redhead during work hours, after all they had no choice but to see each other in the kitchen.

Rei sighed for the nth time. Wow, imagine that.

Shit, he's getting worked up again. He could feel it coming; the painful headache, the bad mood, the uncontrollable urge to destroy something—

_Calm down._

He quickly changed destination and went for the staff room; he needed to sit down. Boris was already there at the far side of the room, slacking with his legs propped up on the table. Complete with the evil death glare and snort. Rei wasn't in the best condition to filter that out, but at least he managed to grab a chair, sit down with his elbows resting on the table and his palms supporting his head, without giving the light-haired man a glare of his own.

This was not good. _This _was never good.

_Remember your reason for coming to Russia._

Rei still remembered perfectly. It's not that he wanted to; if he had a choice he'd forget altogether and he could go on with his life happier than ever. But things don't ever go that way and he had to endure it till everything solves itself.

But, things don't ever go that way too.

_This is a bad idea._

He can't keep running away forever.

_Fuck. _Rei dropped his head on the table oblivious to the strange look from the other occupant of the room.

Sooner or later, his problems would catch up to him. And he wouldn't be able to do anything about it till it's too late. Unless of course he _does _do something before all that shit happen; right now though Rei wasn't really thinking straight to figure that out...

...And that's _exactly _what he's doing in Russia. In Moscow. In Kai's house.

_Getting lost_.

He looked up from the table, his chin resting on the surface, staring at the blank, white wall in front of him still unaware of the disturbed stare from that other person. What if he just returned home? Would they pretend nothing had happened? That as if he hadn't left at all? Sure that wouldn't fix anything, but at least it would make everything easier. But what if they despise him for leaving in the first place? What if they don't welcome him back? What if they don't _want _him back?

Okay, he's seriously going to lose it any second now if he didn't stop thinking about it and go back sulking with his face on the plastic surface again.

"You got a table waiting..." Sergey's voice trailed off when he peeked into the room and saw a quite pathetic-looking Rei slumped on the table. He gave Boris a questioning glance; it was reciprocated with a shrug and a roll of eyes. Sergey was...torn. In all honesty, he never had a problem with the Chinese staying with them. It wasn't all that bad like how Yuriy's making it out to be. Besides an extra help with the chores—not just in the cafe but also at the house—was always appreciated...not that they showed it openly, of course.

Rei wasn't moving aside from breathing, the tallest Russian observed. Maybe he fell asleep? He _had _been doing all the cleaning and serving (and sometimes even the cooking) the past days...Yuriy and Boris took that to their advantage and began slacking off. What did he expect?

"Boris," Sergey called out, giving him a knowing look. The pale-haired man glared at him incredulously; was he making him do the waiting instead of the girly cat? Though Sergey had a serious, calm expression on his face, Boris knew better than not to mess with that. Flipping a finger at Rei's sleeping form he reluctantly stood up from his comfortable position and headed out the staff room, with the tall blond at his heels.

Rei, was in fact, _not _sleeping. But he wasn't entirely aware of his surroundings either. He was trying to block out _some _thoughts by distracting himself with _better _thoughts like the fact that Max called last week and said he'd visit next month, or the reunion that Chairman Daitenji, Takao and Kyoujyu had been planning for ages and finally coming into fruition in a few months, or Hiromi's booming fashion line and how she was planning to make Rei a model—much to his denial of course, he never did like that kind of attention—or Daichi returning from his village and becoming the new Blader DJ. There were so many happy things to think about...just too bad all of them were not about him.

Now that it crossed his mind—why wasn't he updated with Kai's status? If he hadn't showed up at Russia four days ago, he would've never found out what happened with their stoic teammate. Why wasn't he in touch with Kai all these years? He wondered if Takao and the gang were the same. Were _they _contacting Kai? He remembered a faint memory when he decided to call Kai's mansion in Japan, only to find out that Kai already permanently left and lived in Russia. And that was several years ago.

"Sleeping on the job?" followed by a tap on the shoulder. Speak of the devil.

"I don't get paid enough," Rei joked, sitting up straight to face the cafe owner. Kai was looking as great as ever, though his hair was slightly tussled than a while ago. When he received a smirk as a reply, Rei figured it was his turn to ask questions. "Shouldn't you be in your office?"

"I should be but with Boris' cursing—"

"Shit!" Rei hastily stood up; he knew how _well _that psycho's customer relations were. "Have you ever considered entering him in Anger Management classes?" he called over his shoulder as he made his way to the kitchen door.

Kai continued smirking. "Never worked."

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p>That night, their dinner was a rather strange one. On the ride back Kai made Rei list down some foods which he thought to be easy to make, yet satisfying to the mouth and stomach. Rei felt confident then; if there was at least one thing he's good at, aside from Beyblading, it's definitely cooking. So he thought hard and gave it his best to procure a list in a few minutes time, when he finally managed to present to the slate-haired Russian a paper with five different delicacies written on it. Kai gave it a glance, "Hn"-ed, pointed to a random food and said, "Make that for dinner tonight."<p>

Rei was pitifully confused. Kai just asked him to cook...without even checking if they had the necessary ingredients or not...without even letting him go to a grocery to buy said ingredients. It was a good thing that the type of food Kai _randomly _pointed at was the right one for that sort of occassion. Improvisation at its finest.

And so, that night the Chinese placed a portable gas stove in the middle of the dining table, a pot of soup on top of it, turned the stove on to prevent the soup from getting cold and placed random sliced vegetables and meat on a plate nearby, still raw.

It was the Russians' turn to be confused.

"What the hell is this?" Boris was the first to voice out his thoughts on the matter, followed by an acknowledgement from the redhead.

"Well," Rei began, undaunted and sat down on his "usual" chair, and by that it meant in front of Yuriy, and in between of Sergey's right and Kai's left, "in China we call this a 'hot pot'. In Japan they call it 'shabu shabu', though Kai probably knows that already."

"Greaaaat," Ivan groaned, clearly unimpressed. "Now can you cook those already?" He pointed to the plate of raw meat.

The Chinese smiled at him. "Oh, you eat them like that."

...

"Trust _Kai_ to make dinner arrangements," Yuriy snorted and was about to stand up from his seat when said Russian grabbed his arm. "What?"

Kai only gave him a pointed glare for a moment then turned to the black-haired man. "Rei, go on."

"Alright, this is how it's done," Rei still had his grin on his face as he picked up a carrot with his fork and dropped it in the pot. "You put in whatever you want to eat in the soup and let it cook for at least half-minute or for how long you want it, depends on you." He fished the carrot from the pot and popped it in his mouth. "It's like cooking your own food!"

...

"I made rice too?"

* * *

><p>x<p>

* * *

><p>Even though it might very well be labeled a "disaster", Rei enjoyed their dinner that night the most out of the past dinners they had. Even though Boris literally walked off as soon as Rei mentioned the rice, at least he found out something new about them and that's they've never eaten rice and had no plans on doing it soon. Even though in the end the Russians decided to order pizza instead, Sergey still ate a few from the hot pot, Ivan tried to cook the meat but got bored waiting when told it'd take five minutes to cook properly, Yuriy dipped a potato cube and ate it before walking out himself, and Rei was able to spend some time with Kai while eating hot pot with rice.<p>

It was nothing special, really. In fact they rarely talked, it _was _Kai after all. Besides his ex-teammate's comment about missing eating rice (explains why Rei found some in the house even though Kai's friends had never eaten it), nothing more was said, and they ate the hot pot in silence while Ivan's voice droned in the kitchen as he ordered some seafood pizza.

And now Rei found himself on the second floor balcony, overlooking the calm, quiet neighborhood at night. This place was like heaven compared to how he was used to; throughout the day it was very serene and peaceful, which sort of struck as odd to the Chinese, expecting a noisy, busy environment just like he'd seen at some parts of Moscow. Although it was only a few blocks away where he could see the bright lights of the main district, the area where Kai's house was located still managed to be tranquil.

Leaning on the stone railings, Rei's golden eyes idly followed a stray cat on the street. What was he doing on the balcony in the first place? Well, he wasn't that oblivious to not figure out that Boris had been intentionally avoiding his own bedroom and only going in to sleep because _he _was there. It made him feel somewhat guilty so tonight he's hanging out at the balcony instead of the bedroom.

A soft gush of wind suddenly ghosted over Rei, making him slightly shiver. He almost forgot how cold it becomes in Russia; thank goodness it's not winter yet or else he didn't think he'd make it without getting sick.

_Mao is worried sick._

Where the hell did that come from? He stared at the night sky, his face with an unreadable expression. Were they really missing him?

But...it's not like he didn't tell them anything. It's not like they didn't know. They _knew_.

And they also knew he'd return.

Eventually.

Rei clenched his fists tight. He's acting like such a kid right now, maybe. But everybody has their limits and it just so happened that he had reached his.

No, he's not mad. Possibly frustrated, but mostly just disappointed. Probably depressed, too. But never mad. He just needed to relax, that's all. In fact, that's what he told them...and that's what he _should _be doing! Rei scolded himself, _stop thinking about _that _again. Relax!_ Four days passed and yet it didn't feel like relaxation was coming anytime soon...because he kept distracting himself by thinking about _it._ He's in Russia, for crying out loud! In a different country! He should be enjoying himself and not stressing out over whatever it was he temporarily left behind.

He wrapped his arms around him, the warmth negating the cool atmosphere of the night. He just noticed the stray cat rummaging through a neighbor's garbage can when he felt footsteps nearing towards him. Judging by the sound of the steps, it was nobody else but his good friend Kai.

"What are you doing here in the balcony?" Kai's smooth, baritone voice slightly echoed, moving to stand beside Rei against the railings.

"Thinking," the Chinese replied, not planning to tell anyone that he was also guilty of Boris' behavior.

_Silence__._

"Remember what you said about me talking a lot more?" Kai broke it off, making Rei glance at him with a wide golden eyes. "You are the opposite. You've become quieter."

Rei couldn't help but smirk. He didn't think anybody would notice _ever_. Heck, not even his closest friends did...well, except for Kai. "Maybe I'm becoming an old man," he chuckled.

"You're only twenty-two," Kai responded, still not looking at him and instead focusing on the starry night sky.

"True, true, but it sure is different from how we're used to when were still Beyblading," Rei looked away from the cat and stared at the SUV below. "We were so carefree...it felt like it'll never end. That we'll be Beyblading forever and have fun together forever."

When there was no reaction from the dual-haired man, Rei decided to continue, "Of course, it has to end someday...we still have to grow up, y'know?" Rei laughed, shaking his head. "Though I'm not saying Beyblading is childish. It was a part of my life. I still love it. But it is better suited for younger generations...for us adults, we have to get a job, work our asses off just to survive." Rei smirked. "We don't have time for funanymore."

"Does that bother you?" Kai asked indifferently.

"Not having fun? Of course it does. Though sometimes when I look at Driger it makes me think, would we still have fun if we Beyblade now?"

It was Kai's turn to smirk. "I actually liked you quiet, but right now you ruined that image for me."

"Hey! You were the one disturbing my silent contemplation!"

"I didn't ramble."

"Fuck you."

And just like that, Rei suddenly felt a whole lot better. If he ever had regrets coming to Russia, well, he seemed to have forgotten them...at least, for now.

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><p>x<p>

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><p>Thank you for reading, till next chapter.<p>

_Lei-Lei_


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